Revenant of Black Knights and Angels
by JameyoftheMegacosmos
Summary: Just when a story ends, another begins, even if it's against one's wishes. One lost soul will now travel to the origin of her story to set everything right. Crossover with an original story to be published someday.
1. Prologue

_Yet, another crossover featuring one of my original stories. Like Death Scythe: Zero Hour, this story was made to help me progress writing the original story by crossing it with something else. Feel free to give the prologue a try and leave comments._

* * *

It was as if a story suddenly came to an end.

Ange was left in the middle of some void, unaware what had happened. The last moment she remembered was opening her new little restaurant. It was a café under her name with everyone she welcomed and cared for invited. Then, right when she issued a photo of commemoration, the flash that was going to begin another world she called home, it all happened.

This was not the first time everything was taken away from her. Originally, she was Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi, the supposed crown princess of the almighty Misurugi Empire. But that was a lie; she was someone who was different from the others in her world. For that, everything lived with was thrown away. That was the moment she wished to discard everything and start all over with a new identity, a new name.

But now, everything was taken away, as if it was once again a lie. She couldn't understand, just the fact she was helplessly in the darkness with little to no clue what was going on.

That sort of thing always pissed her off. Like everything that was wrong with the world and everyone in it, she wanted to angrily rant.

But then, ripples of light broke the darkness of the void that got her attention. Her eyes were blinded for the moment until she could see a source of light to her left, a glowing sphere of light with rings surrounding it.

Then, a voice came before she could speak.

 _"_ _You thought that this was a new beginning?"_

Ange could not tell who or what kind of voice it was. It sounded like that of a child, which is why even she could not tell whether it was male or female. In some ways, the voice was disturbingly familiar, but she still had some ideas as to who it could be. That only added more to the mystery as the voice continued.

 _"_ _If you thought that could now start a new book with your own hands, then you are gravely mistaken."_

By then, Ange had to speak up.

"Who are you?"

 _"_ _Me? I'm your observer who has watched you since your birth."_

"W-What?"

 _"_ _I have seen everything that you've been through, everything that you've suffered, and all the trouble you yourself had caused unnecessarily. And I'm sorry to say that you are very…disappointing."_

Ange glared at the entity at her taunts and reacted.

"I don't give flip about what you think about me! Just who are you!?"

 _"_ _I am someone you may not wish to know. Only to call by the name X."_

Ange struggled to move, but she found it no use. She was completely in limbo with no successful attempt to resist. All she could do was stare at the light that called itself X and listened to its taunts.

 _"_ _Did you really think that your way of the world is what was best for everything? Do you really think that could use your misfortunate and the problems of others as an excuse for your abuse and forcing your righteousness onto others? Did you really think that you could just simply throw everything away and bury your hateful past like it never happened? All you are is a sad story that should never have happened."_

Silence filled as only anger was building up within Ange with her insults. Just then, X began to move.

 _"_ _Perhaps if you understood the truth. Perhaps if you knew the source of all the sufferings in your world. You will truly understand what you must do and what you should become."_

"Hold on, where are you going!?"

 _"_ _That question is irrelevant. The real question is…where do you think you're going?"_

The light in front started to shrink.

 _"_ _The time has come for you to see the origin. Back to where it all began, and when it all began. From there, you shall understand your mistakes, correct this terrible past, and save the one horribly twisted by fate."_

"What…who?"

 _"_ _I shall guide you through your journey. Only then, will you know and fulfill your true purpose."_

"Hold on."

 _"_ _We shall meet again, Ange. Or I should rather say, Empress Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi,"_ those were the last words before the light called X faded away.

"We're not done yet! Why did you bring here! Answer me! ANSWER ME!"

Her calls were futile. Space started to warp and the being called X released a flash. And that was all she knew.

* * *

It was great to be home.

That's what Ray thought when he set foot off the plane and into the boarding station of Zhengding airport. Although he never had been to this airport, he found exactly what he had expected. The airport was doing its best to be clean, but he could still see some part of the floor that made it partially run down, along with heavy security.

But that didn't matter to Ray as he looked over to Shijiazhuang, the nearby city through the glass windows. No matter how rich or poor it was, on the outside of his home country, it would his home. Perhaps it was the only other home he had since he could no longer call his former country home anymore.

Except when only certain people are around, those he wished to personally see and protect on his journey.

One of whom he should not wish to see anymore was the one stuck on his mind. For years, he had to suffer abuse from him, verbally, physically and emotionally. He always had to suffer all the rants about his hatred for his life, taking his rage on his only son and calling things he never should have. No matter how much they had in common, Ray decided that he had his abuse long enough.

But even when they were so far away, he could still feel his words stuck on his mind. Those hateful words made him nearly tear as he wrinkled his forced and clenched his fists.

 _I swear…I'll make sure regret every word you said to me. And you'll see how much I've felt, and who I really wish to be. I swear…_

Ray anger stopped when his pocket vibrated. He took out his Dual Screen Phone out of frustration and unfolded it to see notifications on his phone. The message coming from his phone was from one of the social sites that he used.

 **CHIPPER**

 **silverprincess2663 sent you a message:**

 **Good luck on your adventure! Hope you had a nice trip!**

The message gave him a warm smile. For that reason, he felt less tense than he did a few seconds ago. This was one of the only things that could calm him down. For that reason, he hugged his phone as if the person who messaged him was right there in his face.

 _Anne...Perhaps it's thanks to you, that I can feel normal again._

Whenever he felt normal, he felt like he could do anything. With all the demons cleared out of his mind, he could easily focus on his work. To those who cared about him, whether they be people his ages and adults, they found him working much harder, and even going well beyond their expectations.

That said, he patted the suitcase behind his back to make sure his special device was there, his key to his success for his campaign. As he felt something as small as a USB drive on the outside pocket, he sighed in relief. For now, his future was starting to be secured.

He put his phone aside and continued walking. Towards the what he would his home…and his first battlefield.

* * *

Out in the mountains, a certain humanoid machine with fins on the forearms and thighs kneeled within the mountains. It kneeled to blend into the mountainous terrain with its butterscotch and secondary white colors and dead branches and bushels covering overhead.

Inside the cockpit within the robot's neck collar was the pilot, who wore a black and green flight suit. The top rear section of the helmet was cut off to expose her blonde hair tied into a bun. On both sides of her helmet was a black rigid symbol shaped like a bat or crow enveloped in a thin white outline. Her legs were separated by a console block and the feet were strapped onto pads that slid, pivoted, and elevated to match their movements. Her arms were similarly strapped onto simple mechanical systems that each had five pulling handles for the fingers.

In front of her was a large LED screen that showed everything through the naked eye from the two cameras on the head. An additional screen was displayed on the screen for the back-view camera, but that didn't matter much for the pilot.

The screen zoomed in on the airport that was miles away from her location. At the end of the airstrip, a small twin-engine delta wing aircraft took off. The pilot clenched her right fist and raised to her left breast. In response, the robot touched a button in the same area that opened a secure communication line.

"Sun, this is Windy. Card is airborne and leaving the airport. Over."

A while later, a low male voice responded to her message.

"Copy Windy. Any Gadgets in the area?"

She observed the area for any dangerous aircraft, for which she found none. They lucked out, she'd say.

"Negative. There are zero hostiles in the area. Card is undefended."

"Understood. We will begin sealing the Card shortly. All forces including Silent, Shadow, and Arrow are transformed and in position. Please ensure your Noble is running smoothly before you intercept."

The pilot took her fingers off the hand controls to interact with the console between her legs. She twisted the USB-shaped key as an electric motor kicked in. Once the pop came out, she pushed her shoulders down that gave the power system more fuel. Integrated on the back of the machine, the fan its jet turbine spun rapidly as the thrust blew exhaust front from two symmetrically angled directions. The pilot codenamed checked her surroundings to see if anyone was altered to her attention, including the small jet that was her target. A quick system check started for the other systems that were activated, including the two interweaving layers of wires that wrapped around the machine's component. So far, so good.

"Affirmative. Noble's turbine is running smooth. Tissue Cables are hot and alive. All other systems, green. No defects to report."

"Copy Windy. Mission starts in T-minus 15 seconds. Remember, this is a one-shot opportunity. Do not blow it."

"Affirmative."

As the turbine gained thrust, the machine broke out of its cover. Standing upright up to around 5 feet, the machine had a feminine appearance with wings spanning about 3 feet. The machine grabbed a rifle from its back that had a boxy secondary launcher underneath with six missile tubes. As the machine started hovering into the air and held the rifle with both of her hands, more lights flickered on the machine's head including two large red ones on its antennas.

The mission was about to begin.

"Weapons are loaded, safeties off and card is on intended course. Executing in mission in 3...2...1."

* * *

 _So, mixing in with the first scene with Ange is the prologue for another one of my original series. The story is called Schwarz Cheval, which translated into "Black Horse." A combination of foreign languages is going to be common with the story's chapter names except for prologues and epilogues._

 _The first of the story's concepts came from Lyrical Nanoha, which took the inspiration from mecha and applied it to the magical girl genre. That then sparked the idea of doing the reverse order, to create a mecha series based on magical girls. The result gave me a vast number of designs that can work, while additionally making them realistic in a way._

 _Other series that inspired the story and the other merged concepts include:_

 _Code Geass_

 _Legend of Galactic Heroes_

 _Akame Ga Kill_

 _Full Metal Panic_

 _Knight's & Magic_

 _Aldnoah Zero_

 _Gundam 00_

 _Mobile Fighter G Gundam (for the mecha concepts only)_

 _Cross Ange also had a part in designing the mecha. In a way, I made this crossover as if it were a sequel and prequel merged together. Despite that, I'd like to publish Schwartz Cheval as an original story as I go along._

 _Another reason for writing this is hoping to treat some of the remaining mental wounds that Cross Ange inflicted and Super Robot Wars X didn't heal; I like it because of how it least bandaged half of them, but some issues regarding some of the Norma, Ange herself, and even Embryo still need some treatment._

 _Either way, I'll see if this crossover works out, and I hope you all enjoyed the small reading._


	2. Schwarz Venue

_So, here's the first chapter I've done so far. Just to clarify, there is only going to be Cross Ange and this original series. The list from before was about inspirations to the original series._

* * *

Chapter 1- Schwarz Venue

* * *

Ray looked down on the floor, continuously deep in thought about his past action. Even though he was on the other half of the world, it was now exactly one day when he made his decision to leave the states. Even so, the demons that haunted his past still plagued his mind. Leaving his former home was never going to make them go away; he had to face and resolve them, but those thoughts continued to distract him from his task.

In an attempt to get those thoughts out of his head, he tried looking at the window. However, what he could see outside the taxicab did little to help.

Out on the highway, many of the buildings he passed were still covered in rubble or had holes within them. Apart from some buildings that were foreign to the area, the city looked more like an over-sized ghetto than anything.

Was the place much than it was? As someone who visited this place before, that's what Ray thought. The last time he remembered, the place was far livelier. More people roamed the streets doing shopping in the immense malls, playing arcade games, buying electronics, just everything his old home had. There was so much for even him with a combination of low prices and a significant amount of funds. Even if living conditions were lower, everything else the nation provided did more to compensate.

Everything in the former nation was better than it is.

As the taxi went downtown and stopped at a nearby traffic light, Ray's view out the window became obstructed by a massive screen. This screen was newly installed, which stuck out from the rest of the decaying building it stood on.

The large image displayed the UCN logo also with the date: May 21, 2055.

The screen opened to the female reporter on screen.

 _"This is Jeannie Fox reporting live from the United Central Network."_

The screen then displayed a world map showing mainly the Asian and North American continents. The latter was entirely colored in a blue silhouette while the rest of the states on the former were given different colors. Some including former Japan and South Korea were colored light blue, while the rest on mainland Asia had different shades of red representing the various countries. The nations were represented with mass amounts of aircraft, tanks, and missiles. The oceans in between represented by flaws of war and explosions hitting the western side of the American continent, followed by shaded versions of the nations' former leaders.

 _"Today is the fifth anniversary since the end of the Pacific Unification War when China and its neighbors declared war upon the world's greatest superpower. The war started when the former authorities launched cowardly attacks on their neighbors, believing they could overwhelm the enemy through overwhelming military power."_

As the blue colors on the North American continent spread eastward, the military machines for the other side exploded like fireworks. The explosions that went over to the capitals and nations on the other continent as they changed to blue colors one by one.

 _"Thanks to unprecedented miracles, the hostile armies fell one by one to the Central States' advances. After half a year, each nation that challenged the principles of freedom was liberated with its former oppressors captured and executed for war crimes in accordance to law."_

The screen then displayed the execution of such officials, whether they'd be by military firing squads or lynching. After those images closed, the map showed the superpower as of today. Aside from the smaller western half of what used to be Russia, every Asian nation that had a coastline on the Pacific was as blue as everything else.

 _"Since the war's end, all the nations who dared to challenge the symbols of freedom and prosperity have been integrated as states of the newly formed Pacific Union. These once undeveloped nations are now being governed properly by our glorious patriots from the Central States, the home of all Unionists."_

On mainland North America, the countries in the Caribbean and what was called Mexico were colored light blue. The territory up north that was Greenland, Alaska, and what people once called Canada. Ray eyes on the yellow regions on mainland North America, the so-called Central States that guided the Union.

 _I can't...call that place my home anymore…_

Ray thought the contrary as the screen went to the rest of the world. The map was dotted with the locations of military bases, international economic centers, and embassies that all belonged to the Union. The vast number of dots proved the nation's status as a superpower.

 _"The Union continues to be the dominant power of global affairs with more than 1,500 military bases, 400 embassies, and 500 global trading centers all over the world. As GDP continues to rise, the Unionists hope to spread their ideology and prosperity to create an everlasting peace."_

Ray observed the rest of his surroundings that proved the contrary. He always had the feeling since the time he doesn't remember when.

 _This_ _is what they call peace? Then...how do explain all of this? Everything has ever changed, but for the worse, even in the Central States!_

Those words brought out those bad memories again. This time, it was someone who repeatedly taunted him once again for being useless.

Worthless…stupid…that he was never going to be successful in life. Those words made Ray clench his fists once again.

 _No matter what, I'll never be what you think I am…I'll prove to you that I'm a human being of my own right!_

As the taxicab began driving again, Ray remained fixed on the screen, which showed the Central States with the Union's flag fluttering in the background. What was once his homeland has now become his enemy in the future. The moment he stepped into the territory of China was the point of no return, the moment when he was on the path to fulfilling a promise he made throughout his life.

 _And I swear...I'm going to change this country….by destroying it. The cause of it all of it's suffering…_

While Ray was stuck in his thoughts again, the taxi cab stopped, and the driver responded to him in Mandarin.

"一千八十元。" （1080 yuan.）

To Ray, that was way too much compared to last time. However, everything is different compared to before to what happened six years ago. Things aren't as cheap as they used to be, but there's nothing he can do about it now.

Ray replied in the native language by giving him a little more.

"这是一千二百元。你不用找钱。"（Here's 1200 yuan. You can keep the change.）

"不用，不用。" (You don't need to.)

Ray merely accepted the change. He didn't have that much money, just enough to get himself started on his plans. He also knew that was against tradition, even rude, to give tips to the Chinese. Even so, he couldn't stand trying to be a little generous, especially since that's what kept him going. It was his primary philosophy.

That's what also brought him here, this apartment building within a large block of condos. After thanking the driver, a group of familiar faces stood before him. Between the parents who were obviously the mother and father, he was happy to see the boy of equal age who approached him.

"下午好，郭龙！六年不见，对不对？" (Good afternoon, Long Guo! It's been six years, isn't it?"

"是的，日丽。" (It has, Ri Li.)

Both boys and the nearby parents chuckled. Ray then changed his language back to English.

"You haven't changed much, have you?"

"Oh really? After six years, you're still able to point me out."

"How could I ever forget? The way I see it, the only thing that changed is…this."

Ray found himself distracted over the stale buildings in the area. He merely eyed on the name that was changed. Originally, the city called "Petrovilla" by the English locals. But he could see from when the lights and words were torn down that that it used called Shijiazhuang. The blatant renaming earned another glare from Ray.

"Are you dissatisfied with the neighborhood?"

"No, not at all! In fact, this place is perfect...for me…for now."

"For now?"

"Never mind. What matters is...that it's great seeing you again."

As the two gave hugs to one another, Ray's parents took the time to take his luggage. Together they went up the Long family's apartment. Up there, Ray could rest at last.

* * *

Up in the skies of the Chinese city, the orange mecha was stuck in a game of cat-and-mouse with the small delta-winged aircraft. A few rounds of ammunition shot out of the machine's rifle, which the small aircraft dodged with a barrel roll. It tried to swipe the wing of the aircraft as well, only to miss it by a small margin.

Inside the cockpit seat, Cordette Neoclass jerked the controls of her machine. This phase of the mission was expected to have some delays depending on how long it took for her to shoot down the aircraft, but it was far from her own expectations.

One reason was the aircraft's stunning performance. The C-147 Haizum aircraft was showing it reputation. Despite its role as a private jet for VIPs, the delta-winged aircraft had the maneuverability of an advanced fighter plane.

The other reason was the conditions as her superior ordered. The goal was to obtain the cargo within the aircraft. Therefore, her job was not to blow it up, but to damage enough to make a forced landing, or at least ground it in a way that it didn't hurt the contents. The aircraft's safety features made sure it had some chance of success should her confrontation result in the latter.

Even so, Cordette couldn't understand why her commanding officer would want its contents so badly. She already knew why but was frustrated over how he wouldn't let the situation go.

 _Are you really wrapped around this kind of thing, Major? I swear you were never so committed to things like this._

After a few more shots from her IR ADR 35mm rifle, the aircraft started to climb. Her mecha, or rather "Cheval" as what the French called it, the CA Courant 50 could no longer climb such altitude. The Major ordered her that not let the plane get away, no matter happens. Destruction of the plane would be more acceptable than letting it escape, but it was best to secure the contents.

 _I'm sorry, Major, for I must do this._

Cordette made the hand movements that imitated a soldier readying an under-barrel weapon under a rifle. The Courant then held the rifle steady with both arms as she aimed at the escaping plane. She took a deep breath to relax as she had one shot to do this.

When she thought she had it, when she had the missile in the Under-Barrel Ordinance Launcher locked on target, she fired.

* * *

Three black figures with long, black coats walked through a corridor at an intense pace. They were alerted as soon as they got word about the attack on the transport.

"This is not what we expected."

One of the men with black shades and slightly long brown hair lamented over the sudden attack. He was flanked by the two men.

"Whoever did this must've somehow figured out our experiment. We must be lucky to label the transport as a hospital plane, huh?"

The man without shades and short blonde hair spoke to himself.

Just then, the third, balding man with shades fastened a gun by his side.

The leader of the team took out a thick wallet from his pants' pocket. He opened it to show his badge to the scanner. The card below it was labeled "Union Bureau of Intelligence" with his code-named "Magna" on it.

"Cum Laude is already flipping out over the mess. The public must not be allowed to know."

When the door was opened, he turned to the blonde man before going to the balding man.

"Summa, you and Maxima get the van. I rendezvous with you shortly after that."

"Yes, sir."

As the two agents ran into the garage, Magna took out his phone and dialed the numbers. His remained how desperate the situation has suddenly become.

 _This_ _is not good by any means. We need to secure that transport immediately before she wakes. If she were to fall into the wrong hands…the Union itself may plunge into a world of destruction._

* * *

Ange shook her head the moment she could wake up her eyes. The next moment after meeting the being that called itself X, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. First, she heard and felt strong gusts of wind blowing in her body. Then, she felt the ground below her moving. Finally, she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling.

After covering her eyes to get used to the glare, the first thing she noticed was that she was completely naked. That sight woke her up completely. She hesitated to cover her breasts and find a good hiding spot in case some pervert or creep came into the building.

But that was the other problem. Aside from a few scraps of paper and broken windows where the breezes were coming from, the room was nearly vacant. Perhaps it was abandoned, or the people decided to move out at one point. Even then, there could be other people living in the building, so she had to move quickly.

Picking her feet up, she looked around for whatever clothes she could find. After taking one foot, she already got a cut underneath her foot. It was inevitable since the glass shards were all over the place. After taking it out of her foot, she ignored the bleeding and continued onward.

Once she finally got on some ground without any sharp objects around, she found herself in a hallway that led to the stairs. Perhaps this was a large apartment complex that got deserted for some reason. But what reason exactly?

Ange placed her hand on a wall and found some graffiti on it. Well, it looked more like advertising since it had a set of numbers and words that she could pick out. Reading wasn't much of a problem, for it was something for an electrical company. The real problem was the first word in the company's name.

"Shijia…Zuang? Zi…huang?"

To be fair, this wasn't the first time Ange had to deal with a weird name. Salamandinay, her DRAGON enemy turned friend, had one of those names she couldn't get and just stuck with the name Salako for convenience. She pretty much gave up learning people's names a long time ago.

A piece of paper then blew into her face. Grabbing to provide cover for herself, she quickly looked at the front of the paper. It was a poster with the words "PETROVILLA CONDOS FOR SALE!" on it. Turning back to the graffiti wall, she could see the odd name covered by the same name.

"Petrovilla, huh? At least it's more pronounceable than that weird name."

As she wandered around the vacant building, Ange went to the windows to find her position. It came to her surprise that was around twenty floors above the ground. Not that she didn't mind heights, but for now, she had to explore her surroundings. At least had a lot of room to cover and perhaps a spot to hide.

Currently, her only desire though is to get some clothes on first, so she should anything that may be left over, no matter what it is. Hell, what would she care if someone lived here? All she needs is something to wear no matter who it belongs. If she must steal, then so be it.

The other thing she noticed as she clenched her fists is the fact she didn't have her ring. She even rushed back to the first room she was…only to find with nothing. Her ring…her prized possession given by her mother…now gone.

Ange never knew what kind of trickery this was. But without her ring, she could summon something that was important to her. The very machine that gave her the power to resist. And now, it's gone…Well, not quite. Another way might be to sing her song as always, but she needed to find clothes first lest she attracted some unwanted attention.

Either way, it pissed her off so much she wanted to scream.

 _As soon I figure who this is X and drag it, she's going to regret trying to screw with me…_

Just then, Ange heard a pop go on outside the building. It was very far away, but it was loud, and she swore that it was coming right behind her.

Her first instinct was turning around and heading back to the stairwell. Fortunately, there were no doors or anything that prevented her from entering the next room over. At that point, the sound started to sound like a jet engine or a Para-mail's thruster malfunctioning.

After going through the rooms, she went to the first window she could find just to see where the noise was coming from. She scanned around for anything, starting with the ground below. If someone or something were to attack her, the first place to check was either behind or underneath her. She found nothing…which was fine until she looked up.

It was small, but she saw a small, triangular aircraft leaving a trail of black smoke. Although it wasn't spiraling in the air, the pilot seemed to have lost control of the aircraft. Despite the engine failure, the aircraft was cruising at a tremendous speed. Much to her misfortune, it was coming right at her.

 _Oh, this is just great…_

Ange cursed as she ran as far away from the aircraft as possible. She just got to this strange new place; she had no intention of dying so soon.

* * *

Ray could not remember the last time he had the typical soup with beef and hand-pulled noodles. It was simple but was tasty and cheap like everything else. Well, the food was no longer as cheap as Ray used to remember it. What mattered was that it was one of the many reasons why enjoyed China than the Central States.

The other reason was the family seen before him. As the mother and father both cooked for him, Long Guo sat across from him. Both were playing a game of Chinese chess on the table on a long but short table that had each other's bowls of beef noodles. Both were eating their dinner with chopsticks, but with different styles. Guo ate his noodles by whatever his chopsticks grabbed. Ray did the same thing, except he twirled it like spaghetti before eating it whole.

While Ray was savoring the noodles, he swallowed it all whole. He nearly choked on the noodles, which caused him to cough and take a drink of water from a bottle. Among everything, it was still a pain to have to buy drinkable water daily, one of the only few pleasures he had in the Union.

"Got enough to eat?"

"I'm just a little surprised that you're able to buy this much food despite…you know."

Long Guo shook his head. As they could see, even with it scattered all over the pace, there was more than enough for a week.

"There's no need to worry."

"Are you so sure? What about your dad's company? Or your friends?"

"They're all perfectly fine."

Ray went to the window that overlooked a small portion of the city.

"With all respect, we seemed to benefit more just by integrating with the Union. The Irvine company was interested in my dad's company and allowed free passes to become citizens of the Union. Besides, compared to the rest of China, the Union's drones never seemed interested in bombing us."

"Maybe the place didn't have that much value to them? There was still that military camp out in the distance, but I don't see any strategic or tactical reason to set up a base here."

"I don't know. The only thing that matters is that we're one of the luckiest Chinese people to be around."

"I see."

Ray quickly lost interest when he heard the name Chinese. Preferably, he would call the nation by its original name.

"By the way, is it still fine for me to keep calling this place Zhongguo?"

"Huh, what with the sudden question?"

"I feel like ever since you lost the war, the original names here started to go away. The name here, Shijiazhuang, has now been turned into Petrovilla. Some other cities have been renamed to suit the nation's interests. Liberty, Petersburg, Kai-shek, Petrovilla…The Union always referred to this place as China like I did. Do you still maintain that identity? The one you used to have?"

The son of the Long family didn't know what to say.

"You sometimes think of the strangest questions…"

"S-Sorry. That just slipped out."

"Don't worry about it. But to be honest, I don't know. What I do know is that it's not the government that matters anymore. It's the people."

"The people?"

Ray recalled his time in the cab. Besides the decaying buildings, he could see people throughout the streets. Some were without food; some were without shelter. More importantly, no matter where they were, no matter what kind of fancy container they had, each one of them nearly turned empty.

However, there were some exceptions. Some of those areas belonged to the Long family's company that handled food and merchant marine transportation. It wasn't much, and the company was small, but it was enough for them to create some haven for the abandoned.

It was more than just them, as Ray almost forgot. There were also their classmates, all living within the city like old friends. Some went to other places like United England or the Eurasian Alliance. Some even went into what are now territories, including the Siberian region, or the very heart of the Pacific Union. Regardless, for the sake of friendship, this city was their home forever.

"In this city, everyone is out trying to make the best out of their misfortune. Everyone uses their skills to rebuild homes and restore everyone's income. Sometimes, they do a little more and ask nothing in return. Perhaps it's our tradition or something we've always done since the changed for the better and opened itself to the world. But what matters is that no good deed is ever regretful."

"If only I can have the freedom and courage to agree with that."

Guo could sense distraught from Ray's sigh of misfortune. His previous sentence even showed that something was wrong. Really wrong.

"Tell me, Long Guo. Is this China of the now better than it was before? We both lived in the country for a long time, long before the war began. Sure, it may have been slow. Sure, it had policies different from ours. Sure, the nation may have had its faults in the past, atrocious big ones, too. But it learned from them, and it changed for the better over time. The Union keeps denouncing the old Zhongguo as a barbaric nation that steals, conquers nations, and commits mass murder of innocent people. Is that the Zhongguo we know of!?"

Long didn't know what to say, except…

"You must hate the Central States…"

"It could be so much better. Compared to there, when I first came to this country, this city, I thought that I was in heaven…"

"In heaven?"

"It wasn't about food, the growing economy, or low prices. Here…I found a family, a community where I belonged. Unlike where I came from, where they didn't even treat me as a person or someone's kid. While you, your friends, even the teachers here saw for who I was. It may be six years too late, but I have to say…thank you."

"I…"

"Because of you, I believe there is hope for this world. With that hope, I can change it."

"I don't know, Ray. That sounds like something too big for you. You'll need a miracle to pull something off like that…"

Before Long could continue, which distracted Ray, an explosion occurred behind him.

The blast sent out a loud soundwave that forced both boys to cover their ears. Both even down on the ground as the explosion rocked the entire building. With their building more than 30 floors high above the ground, it makes sense that Ray would feel scared. It was like the building could snap at any moment when the building moved and twisted like this.

A few seconds later, the rumbling stopped, and everything seemed to return to normal. Ray spent a few extra seconds on the ground to be safe but got after trusting himself that nothing would happen.

"What was that?"

That was the only question in his mind. Guo faced towards Ray but was looking outside rather than at him.

"Uh, Ray?"

The boy turned around to see his answer. On another building directly adjacent to their own, around twenty-three floors above ground, the right side was bursting out smoke.

"And I thought this place couldn't be any more dangerous."

"What is it? A terrorist attack?"

"No, this is no terrorist attack. Look."

Ray pointed at the wreckage as the smoke cleared. Metallic wings were sticking out the said of the building. Judging by the size, it looked like a small plane that crashed not the building. If it was intended to be a terrorist attack, the aircraft should've been a lot bigger so that it could take a skyscraper down. Smoke from the engine that differed from the rest of the wreckage hinted that it was due to mechanical failure and it happened to crash right in front of him.

"The hell? How did that get there?"

Ray's monologuing then kicked in recalling information as if he read it from a textbook.

"A C-147 Haizum. A Union aircraft designed by the Mark Greenhill corporation. Its primary role is a VIP transport with enough safety features to protect small but fragile and precious cargo. As a delta wing, it has top marks for agility and maneuverability, which compensates for its lack of armament."

Long Guo found himself over his monologuing, forcing him to get his attention.

"Uhh, Ray?"

"That aircraft was carrying some important people or equipment onboard. Probably Union-based. We are lucky."

Ray took steps away from the window and grabbed his backpack. As he started heading out the door, Guo trailed behind him.

"Ray, where are you going?"

"I need to go out for a bit. There's something I need to check out."

"Are you sure? It doesn't look safe over there."

"I'm fine. Trust me. I'll be back."

Ray then went alone as always. He headed down the stairs, heading towards the sky bridge that connected the two buildings. That was the fastest route for him to investigate the crash. He knew the journey would be dangerous if what he assumed was correct, but that never mattered. The only thing that mattered was the possible importance of this aircraft. Perhaps, he thought, this was the opportunity he was looking for.

* * *

Ange was barely standing up when the debris cleared. In some ways, it was a miracle that she survived. Her attempt to take cover and hide behind a wall nearly twisted her ankle, so she was kneeling for the moment.

By the aircraft hit the side of the building piece of concrete started falling off the building. Although the falling debris didn't hit her, they collapsed her, which was already a gross sight to see.

Within those chunks of concrete, she found something that would call disgusting. Bones, skulls, human stuck blended within the cement. It wasn't that she was mentally weak; on the contrary, she was battle-hardened in the past year. It's just that seeing human bodies being used to construct buildings was not something she saw every day, and that made her puke on the corner.

 _No wonder why this place is abandoned. Who the hell would build a huge building out of corpses?_

After spitting out the remaining barf on the corner, she worked to regain her footing. She returned to the opposite room to investigate the aircraft that nearly hit her.

The aircraft covered almost the entirety of the old apartment. Although the ceiling above had collapsed, it was a complete fit inside the building. Even though the rear end of the aircraft was sticking out by a meter, it was stable enough that she could see what was inside if she wanted. But that wasn't her primary focus.

Ange found at least three corpses within the cockpit seat, all three of them were wearing baggy piloting equipment. All three of them were male, so they would be a good fit, but not unwearable.

First, she needed to get a corpse out of the seat first. She released the safety belts from the pilot and dragged the dead man into the cargo section. Once she finished taking the man's clothes off, she'll have to hide the corpse somewhere.

But before she could continue, she stopped.

Ange's eyes suddenly got a glimpse of the aircraft's cargo: three round containers that were big and long enough to hold a person inside of them. The containers were bolted to the floor with extra springs at the bottom. But the survivability of such cargo wasn't her only concern, but the people inside them.

She was on the very left side of the plane, so she could only see one of them. Only the upper part of the container was made of glass, which was covered by frost or dew. After rubbing the window, her eyes widened over who was inside.

"W-what?"

Ange didn't know if this was some trick by X, but she swore she knew the girl. She could never forget the face, short purple hair, and age of the young girl. Whoever she was, she had to check it out for herself.

After she dropped the corpse of the pilot, she quickly searched around for something smash the window. Her first pick was a hammer by an emergency window. She struck it once…only to find it hardly dented the glass. She struck it again with more force, only to crack but not shatter. The frustrated woman then continued to hit the window repeatedly on the container until it finally gave in, shattering into many different pieces around the girl.

She completely ignored the fact it was very cold inside. Chances were that she'd get frostbite soon enough. She was too focused on the identity of this girl, or rather she thought she knew.

"Coco, is that you?"

"U-uhh?"

The girl Ange thought was Coco Reeve was having difficulty see who it was. She just woke up from her slumber, so her vision was blurry for the moment.

"Are you awake?"

"A-Angel…lise?"

Coco's eyes started to clear up. She could now see the girl who was right in front of her, which flung eyes wide awake.

"Angelise! Is that you!? Angelise!"

Her body wanted to fling forward, but she couldn't. Her container still restrained her inside. But that's not the only problem she was facing.

A few seconds later, Coco froze over a gun pointed at her head. Ange took the dead pilot's handgun and aimed at the girl.

"A-Angelise?"

"Who are you?"

"Don't you know me? It's me, Coco Reeve! From Arzenal?"

"I know that! What are you doing here? How did you get here? Why are you…"

"I…I don't know…"

The two girls were silenced. Neither one of them knew the answer. Ange knew herself, but it appears that Coco doesn't not.

"It all started when I followed you from Arzenal. I wanted to accompany you when you wanted to head back to Misurugi. Then…a sudden flashed appeared before me…"

Ange didn't exactly recall the entire thing, but she knew what she was remembering. Because of that, she got her, and two others killed. It was…a terrible memory fully embedded into her mind.

Even so, Coco continued.

"The next moment, I found myself in a room full of guys in white coats and black suits who put me through all sort of experiments. They wanted my blood, hair, and…something called DNA. They even scanned my head to check for abnormalities in my head. They said that I was not like most humans, as if I was genetically engineered for some reason."

Ange recalled who they were all created. Of course, they would be genetically different in some ways. Coco then went on.

"When they were done, they put me in a room full of other kids my age. They all have these strange behaviors that I couldn't understand, yet the white coats and black suits had so much interest in them. The next thing I knew, I found Miranda in the same room!"

"Miranda?"

"She was…different. She said that she tried chasing you and got eaten by the dragons. But after she thought she was dead, she found herself in the same room as me. It was until later that they decided to take us both to another facility and conduct other new tests somewhere else."

"I see…Do you where we are?"

Ange's question was answered "no" with the shake of Coco's head.

"They didn't tell us anything. They just said that we would be sent to another location, then after a few more tests, they were planning to bring us back. And then, you showed up…"

By that time, Ange already moved on her next interest. She circled Coco's container and went to that on the opposite side of the aircraft. She rubbed the dew off the container to see what the dark-green haired girl from before.

"Uh, Angelise? Could you help me get out of this? I...uh, can't move."

"I'm just getting Miranda out next. Just hold on."

She then repeated the process by breaking the strong glass covering Miranda's face. It wasn't long before she woke and turned away from the glaring lights.

"Uhh…where am I?"

"It's okay; you're safe now. Coco as well."

"Angelise, is that you?"

"Now hold on, I'm going to pry this damn thing off you."

Angelise spent the next minute trying to find the locks to the container. She first started with some latches that held the container together. Although it loosened, she couldn't budge it, which caused her to slam her fist onto the container.

Luckily, her fist slammed on a red button that forced the container to unlock, opening the lid for Miranda. She then proceeded to open Coco's container, and both girls stretched their arms. Both were in white robes fit for their size, yet thin enough to see a silhouette of the naked bodies. Coco was the most energetic of the two to get out.

"I never thought that we'd be free."

"Especially with you being our savior."

Miranda snarked for a moment while still agreeing with Coco. That caused Ange to startle them.

"Let's get this straight. I'm no longer Angelise. I just noticed that you were locked in this tube and couldn't stand you being locked up in them."

Coco was the first to react to that statement.

"No! You're still Angelise! You'll always be Angelise no matter what!"

"Besides, you owe us a lot for what happened back there."

Ange ignored them on that topic. Owe them? What did she owe them? The last time she owed them was buying their graves to take responsibility for her actions. But now, those two girls she thought were dead stood right here. No, they died and were reincarnated back to this place. But then, how did she end up here? Ange did not know.

"Anyway, I think you should get us out of here first. I'm already tired of being a mere rat in a cage."

"That's true! And those black suits could come to find us!"

Ange was busy taking the pilot's uniform off. Although Coco and Miranda didn't seem to notice, she completely forgot her need to change clothes. Taking each piece of clothing one by one, she put them on. She didn't bother to put the helmet on but figured that she needed a place to hide the body as well.

As Ange dragged the naked corpse, Miranda continued as if she had been ignored.

"Or are you just going to leave us, just like you did back there?"

Finally, Ange responded to them.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm not leaving anyone behind. Not anymore. But if you're going to follow me, you have to listen by my rules, okay? First thing, I'm not Angelise anymore. It's Ange."

Coco displayed an upset look and Miranda merely sighed.

Moments later, the three heard rapid tapping on concrete. It was faint as if they were starting from the bottom, but it was getting louder.

"Footsteps."

Ange recognized the sound, which made Coco and Miranda nervous.

"They must be looking for us."

"It could be the black suits!"

"Ange, are you going to do something or not?"

Ange was already exiting by the cargo entrance. As she got a better view of the sky, she found another machine heading straight for the building. There was no doubt the place will soon be flooded with unwanted attention.

"We'll worry about it later. Right now, follow me and we'll hide from whoever's coming for us."

"Eh? Hey Angelise, wait for us!"

Coco trailed behind as she and Miranda exited the aircraft. They retreated to the next the room, the same room Ange first appeared as the footsteps approached the floor.

* * *

Ray hurried his way to the adjacent building. After leaving the dorm, she went down to the twentieth floor where the sky bridge connected to the two structures. It took about five minutes for him to reach where he was, only a handful of floors before he reached the crash site.

He felt it surprising that the crash didn't attract as much attention as it normally would. There was nobody in the stairwell. Not a single person was coming out of the rooms; when Ray check a couple of floors, he found them empty. Not even the alarms were going off in the building.

 _Perhaps, the building was really that abandoned._

That was Ray's thought. In one case, it was troubling since it felt almost too quiet. On the other hand, it was good for him because whatever was in that plane, he's most likely to reach it first.

That hope died out the moment he thought he heard voices coming from the top crash site. It was faint, but there were at least two of them talking in there.

After cursing internally for not being the first one at the crash, Ray thanked himself for not being too loud. Besides not wearing anything floppy, he spent a good portion of his life learning how to move without disturbing anyone regardless what the reason may be. As a someone who enjoyed stealth-based video games, perhaps he learned a few important rules that are keeping him alive.

The next part was the most difficult, trying to see or hear what was going on without being seen or heard himself. As he went up the last couple stairs, he was extra careful to ensure that. Even so, he could stop thinking about who could be up there.

Maybe they were survivors of the crash? It couldn't be. The Haizum might've had safety features that protected the most fragile of objects, but that's if it was bolted down to the frame with springs to absorb most of the shock. A standing person even in the cargo area with a helmet would at least fall knocked unconscious.

Maybe it was someone from upstairs. That was also very unlikely unless someone didn't mind having a torn wall or window up in the rooftops. Perhaps it was just someone like Ray, someone who was exploring the building and happened to be there by coincidence.

Or maybe there was someone else who wanted what was in the aircraft?

As Ray went up to the floor of the crash site, his back flat against the wall, he swore that he could hear military jargon.

"Sun, this is Earth-1. The card is sealed. All Youma appear to be KIA. No hostiles on sight."

As Ray peaked through the door to the apartment, he could see four armed men surrounding the crashed aircraft. Although they had desert camouflage uniforms, they were all fully equipped with military hardware, some he recognized were French. Whoever they were, they weren't Unionists, but they were sure well above the level of standard terrorists.

Their commander's voice came through the radio.

 _"Copy, Earth-1. We were fortunate that the Crow crashed near your position. What about the Sakura inside?"_

"The Sakura is also sealed. The cargo container is a mess, but the container held together without any damage. Just like the info said, Hope is safe and held in cryostasis. We'll need to bring it to Silent before we can open it."

 _"Very well. Secure the area until Windy comes for retrieval. Once she has obtained the capsule, she'll descend into the ground and link up Earth-4 to deliver the container. Regroup with them as soon as she arrives. We will escape through the old subway."_

"Understood. Earth-1 out."

The team leader of the group turned off his radio and gave orders to his units.

"Earth-1, we're going to move up and sweep the upper floors. We can not let Windy get shot down from above. We'll start from the rooftops and move down to a few floors below this one."

"Yes, sir!"

By that time, Ray was already on the next floor directly below. It was a tense moment, but he managed to step down there without being seen or heard. Once all four men walked up to the upper floors, he started moving upward to get a good look of the crash site.

Ray entered the apartment and found the aircraft to be almost a perfect fit inside the old living room if it wasn't for the collapsed ceiling and the rear section sticking out. The Haizum was buried deep into the building, and the floor seemed to hold it well. Moreover, the crew was already dead, so there wasn't too much concern for safety.

Ray decided to make this quick and get a look at what the aircraft was carrying. He didn't want to make a loud noise just by entering the aircraft, but it was a little difficult with the broken glass. He climbed where the glass wasn't much of a problem and snuck his way past the pilots' seats.

When he entered the cargo section of the aircraft, the room temperature suddenly dropped dramatically. He dressed in casual clothes that were fit for summer, but with was more like winter. The shaking of the aircraft didn't help either, which forced him to grab onto something before he continued.

The first thing that interested him in the vehicle was the container in the center, a human-sized capsule fit for one person. There was a square glass door covered in dew the obstructed the face, with latches and a computer terminal on the right side of the vehicle. It was held tightly to a metal frame with foam pads and shock absorbers at the bottom sides, which would make sense how it held together during the crash. By the console, the container was marked "D-4" in red paint.

As Ray approached, his first question was about "Hope," the person who was possibly inside this cryostasis capsule. He started by rubbing the dew off the glass window on the capsule.

As the fog cleared, he found a young girl inside. She was very young, a few years younger than he was, with long white hair that went beyond her shoulder length. She was sleeping within the capsule peacefully as a child cuddled in her crib. The cryofreezing system must have something to do with it.

Ray searched the cargo section where he saw the logos for who owned this unit, the Union Bureau of Intelligence. It came to no surprise considering the questionable methods and conspiracies surrounding this major agency from the Central States. The only questions now were: who was this girl, named "Hope" or "D-4," and why was she so important to these two acquainted groups?

Ray stopped paying attention when he heard something else going outside. It sounded like another aircraft, and by the growing sound, it was heading in his direction. Further investigation could wait until later.

Before he found it best to leave the crash site, Ray quickly took out his phone and snapped photos of everything he saw. Perhaps these images will be useful in the future, he thought. He took shots of everything from the UBI logo to the container and even the girl within. If had enough time, he could've freed her, but that time was scarce by itself.

Once he got enough, Ray exited the aircraft and hid behind a wall to see what was going on. His right foot was close to the doorway, so if he heard the men upstairs come down, he'd quickly run by blending in with the aircraft's noise.

But the machine out there wasn't an aircraft all. Rather, it was a humanoid machine that had a turbofan for an engine.

The appearance of the machine was a sight to see; a military humanoid robot up close. Back in the Union, they never had such vehicles, always relying on drones and conventional armored vehicles. While there were attempts to design their own vehicle in the Central States, they were suppressed due to lack of cost-effectiveness and technology compared the more conventional means.

However, this was a major exception that existed outside the Union. It just came out just a few years ago, shortly after the Pacific Unification War ended, one of the first few military robots to be put into military service. While it had many names, because of its French origins, this machine was called a Cheval.

More specifically, it was a CA Courant 50; the first flight-capable model put into service. Although production of this machine was limited, the Courant was the current peak of the world's robot technology.

Ray nearly lost focus as the orange-colored robot tore through the rear of the Haizum. His concern was how the Courant was going to carry a capsule that looked large and heavy.

 _Although the Courant is strong enough to carry that ADR rifle around_ , _there's so much weight that the turbofan's thrust can keep in mid-air. It would have to descend to the ground._

The fact it had to descend to the ground could mean one thing.

 _They must have comrades at the bottom of the building. Or maybe…_

Regardless if he could hear the men coming down or not, this was the perfect time to leave. The last thing he needed was more men to spot him and get shot. Though maybe this could be the opportunity he was waiting. It was a risk, but if he had the chance, this terrorist group could be the first step towards his own goals.

Of course, the first step was to get out of here and head back to the Long family's house. Only then, he'll have an idea of what to do next.

* * *

In an unknown location nearby was just an abandoned apartment building in the face of the public. It was actually one of several safe houses established by the Union's government agencies, particularly the UBI. A man in a black suit faced his teammate through a computer screen. His face was barely lit since the only light around was either the computer screen or the slits from the nearby window.

The man was already expecting his teammate to report the unfortunate news.

"Cum Laude, this is Summa. We're approaching the site, but it appears that…"

"They've already obtained it, haven't they?"

"I'm afraid so."

The leading agent groaned. The attack was unexpected, but it brought a serious emergency into their hands. Even so, there was nothing they could do.

"Because the Cheval is unable to carry a heavy load at a high altitude, it's been forced to take refuge in a deserted sector of Shijiazhuang's northeastern slums. Perhaps we could search the area and retrieve the subject before anyone notices."

"That's exactly how we'll handle it."

Cum Laude opened another laptop showing contact information and the nearby residents.

"The problem, however, is the number of insurgents in the area. The fact the plane was intercepted after takeoff means that this attack was well executed. The enemy may have forces and collaborators in the area."

"Understood, we'll be looking out for their hideout. But if the enemy has a Cheval, we should expect them to be well-equipped. Us alone will not be able to retrieve it without any casualties or unwanted attention."

"I am aware. Because the acting government has been kept out of this, we have a larger hand in controlling the matter. We will scramble our nearest armed forces to quarantine the area first."

"Understood, from what we've gathered the closest allies we have is the Irvine Company's private security firm."

The leading agent had the name and details on the other computer. One window had all the news reporting the nation's deeds. Another window showed what really happened that were all covered up from the public.

"Cum Laude, this may be a very extreme protocol. The nearest Unionist base is around 50 clicks away. Perhaps we should scramble them first."

"No, we'll use the Irvine security firm."

"But sir-"

"There will already be serious consequences, for the nation and us, if word ever gets out about that girl. The terrorists obtaining her is the least of our worries. We must leave no trace of this mess. No Chirps, no photos, no witnesses."

"…Understood. We'll proceed to destroy the plane and neutralize any witnesses."

"I'll contact you once we proceed to the next cleanup phase."

"Yes, sir. Summa out."

Communications were cut between the agents. As he gained the Irvine corporation's contact information, he turned to the photos to the wall. The images showed x-rays of a young girl with long white hair. Another image had her brain scanned that showed abnormal brain patterns in almost every spot. The last showed her within the long capsule where they contained her no long ago.

Agent Cum Laude turned to the map on the computer where the plane crashed in Shijiazhuang. It already took a while to harden his heart of the matter. As soon as the computer received the desired contacts, he pressed the buttons on the computer to started calling.

"May God forgive us for such an unrepentant sin."

* * *

At a nearby location, a man in the mid-thirties sat by his desk. The sides of the room were full of books and cabinets full of work papers. A few cabinets were locked up tight to prevent anyone from reading.

Even so, Sir Irvine was busy burning papers that included sensitive documents and bills. The laptop on his desk was also in the process of deleting emails and similar files. He has been working on this process since the morning. It wasn't the government that was his concern, but rather those who are pursuing his company.

His temper snapped when he heard knocking on the door.

"What is it!?"

"Mr. Irvine, you have a phone call waiting."

"Tell them I'm busy!"

"It's an emergency, sir. They say they're from the Union's federal government and want your attention."

"…Let me talk to them."

By then, the fancy door opened. An old man in a black suit entered the room with a cell phone in his hand. He approached his master by his desk.

"Excuse me, Sir Irvine. It's for you."

Irvine took the phone away and waved his butler away. When the man left the room and shut the door behind him, Irvine went to the conversation."

"Hello…Yes, I…I see…You want me to deploy them now?"

It took about a minute for the man on the other side to explain. The man was already clenching his fists and wrinkling his face over the matter.

"I…I understand. I'll get them moving right away…Thank you."

Sir Irvine ended the conversation. Moments later, he slammed the phone onto the table with ferocity.

"Stinking yellowants! The only reason we haven't eliminated them already is due to our own government regulations! If only we did not have that system welcoming honorary citizens as Unionists."

The executive stood up from his seat and marched outside of quarters. He pushed both doors open with great force, where he came into a living room. In the center was his son, around ten years old. The force of the door nearly scared the kid, who was busy playing a shooting game on a nearby computer.

"Son, time to get off the computers. We have work to do."

The junior of the Irvine family turned to his father in awe. However, the father had more importance for the kid than sitting around playing video games.

"The yellowants just stole something very dangerous from the government. They're attempting to use chemical weapons against our fellow Unionists, and they want us to retrieve it back…and kill everyone who is involved."

The kid widened his eyes in excitement.

"You mean…"

"That's right, young man. I'm giving you that little present again."

Only a mischievous smile came from the kid. As a father-and-child experience, this would be mean a lot of fun.

"Meet me down at the basement, and we can get started."

* * *

Ray hurried down the stairwell as fast as he could. He had to move quickly before any more soldiers noticed his presence, whether it be from the ground or the upper floors. As of now, he was using the noise of the Courant to drown out the sound of his footstep, but it won't be long before it leaves.

But that's not the only problem he faced. The moment he recognized the aircraft belonging to the UBI, he realized there could be still agents in the area, waiting to retrieve the capsule. At the position it was in, getting the aircraft out of the building and retrieving the capsule without notice is next to impossible. Then again, from what he knew, the UBI always had some extreme ways to cover up their mistakes.

That was especially so when he heard military sirens go off. The alarms stretched as far as the city limits, indicating a city-wide emergency.

 _It must've been the UBI's doing._

When he stopped on the floor between levels, he peaked through the windows to look for the origin of the alarms. For there, he saw what looked like a garage or motor pool opening with columns of armored vehicles rolling out. Near the area, he swore that he could see unmanned aerial combat planes and gunships taking off. When he found even more armored vehicles coming from the other side, Ray took a deep breath in frustration.

 _Would they go that far? All of this chaos is for just one girl? I swear, the Union's trash bags always have to resort to this…_

It won't be long before the area gets swarmed with armed personnel, or worse. Ray picked up his phone and dialed a number. Long Guo then picked up the phone.

 _"Hello?"_

"Xiao Long, is that you?"

 _"Ri Li? Where are have you been?"_

Ray lowered the volume on his phone. He wanted to be as quiet as possible.

"There's no time to explain. You need to get out of there now!"

 _"W-What are you saying?"_

"I'm saying that this place is going to be a war zone!"

The answer silenced the boy on the other line. Hopefully, by now, he would've heard the alarms outside and that they were not normal.

"Listen, I have a case within my luggage that holds my computer. Underneath is another cast that's important to me. Get that…"

 _"I don't understand…"_

"Just listen!"

Ray looked around for anyone. He was louder than he needed to be, but he needed to get his point across.

"Once you get my computer, I want you to also get a USB in one of the luggage's front pockets. Once have both them, put them in my backpack and get you and your family out of there."

"A-Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Just trust me, and I'll meet you at the…"

Before Ray could finish, the phone suddenly hung up. The smartphone dropped the call on him. On the corner, it showed no phone service available in the area. Ray glared and gripped the phone tightly. Now he really needed to hurry.

As he went down to the next floor, the next apartment door suddenly burst open. Right now, Ray was being held at gunpoint by a blonde woman who glared at her.

"W-Who are you?"

Although she was dressed in a military uniform, it didn't fit right for her gender or age. She probably stole it from one of the pilots inside the crashed Haizum. Furthermore, he swore he could see two younger children behind her. Perhaps she was another escapee he missed? He likely failed to notice that there were other containers not counting the one containing that girl.

"Are…are you from that...aircraft?"

"Why does that matter?"

Ange reacted hostilely, gripping her handgun as she aimed at Ray. Even so, Ray still approached the two, trying to speak as quietly as he could with his hands up.

"Listen…this place is about to become a bloodbath. I know you have something to do with this."

Ange said nothing. Ray approached the girls and lent a hand, trying to be as friendly and civil as possible.

"I can help you! Just come with me and I can…"

 _BANG!_

Ange fired her handgun with without warning. The bullet pierced straight through Ray's head, instantly killing him. His body laid on the ground, spilling blood onto the stairwell. Ange then slammed the door shut and locked it to block the scene of the corpse. Ange took a few deep breaths, carefully watching the door for any more intruders. Or rather, more people like who she just saw. Coco covered her mouth in shock while Miranda reacted angrily.

"What the hell was that!?"

"Just getting you away from a creep, that's all."

 _BANG!_

Before she could say more, another bullet was fired. This time, the bullet straight through the door and pierced Ange straight through her head. The two girls startled over how their previous comrade suddenly dropped dead onto the ground, just like the boy she just shot.

"Angelise, are you okay? ANGELISE!"

Coco cries were drowned out when several more bullets flew into the room. Miranda was shot several times while Coco hit in the chest and kneecap. The purple-haired girl was too shocked to experience the pain that she was going through as the UBI agents entered the room.

"Angelise, I…"

Her words were silenced with Agent Maxima firing one more round into Coco. The three agents stood by the corpses with Summa the most remorseful of the three. Two experimental subjects and a woman unknown to them are now dead.

However, what they didn't know was that space started warping. And time started to repeat itself.

* * *

 _So that's Chapter 1. Obviously, this is not the end of Ange by any means. Instead, the next chapter is going to settle that matter and include some more of the original Chapter 1 for this series._

 _In about every chapter, I'll share some biographies and outlines for some of the characters and elements introduced, starting with Ray Makar, the main character of Schwartz Cheval._

 _Full Name: Ray Bobbie Makar_

 _Birthday: December 19, 2034_

 _Blood Type: O_

 _Hair: Short blonde_

 _Skin: White_

 _Eyes: Green_

 _Weight: 170 lb_

 _Height: 5' 9"_

 _Age: 19_

 _Standard attire: Blue jeans, white shirt, no accessories_

 _Hobbies: Video games, story writing, drawings_

 _Favorite Subject: Math_

 _Least Favorite Subject: English_

 _Education: Masse High School, Newport University_

 _Ray's ancestral family is a line of engineers who immigrated from the Federal Deutsche Republic, also known as Germany. Initially born in Jamestown, Virginia, Ray moved from his birthplace early in his life, up to the Northeast of the United States. Generally, he is a nice kid but had abnormal human behavior and lack of social skills. It was unfortunate that his first hometown of Boott, Inglesa was never a nice town for him for he was mocked and abused by many people for his deficiencies. The only exceptions were a few certain students, adults who gave him unwanted special care, and his mother who divorced his father long ago._

 _It was only when he temporarily moved to Byston, the capital of Masse. Ray attended his university and learned foreign languages before studying abroad in Zhongguo, or what the Pacific Union calls China. On his first year, he stayed with the Long family, which since then treated him like a second son._

 _Although the more recent experiences gave him everything he didn't have in Boott, his early trauma still hasn't gone away, only rivaled by the corruption of the Union he has witnessed. Ray's hatred for the Union developed very early, which came from his perpetual eye on political affairs and violence within his neighborhood. His time in Byston and during the Union's last good presidential administration allowed him to see a lot of good in the Union but not enough to accept the corruption plaguing the nation. Taking whatever resources that he could find secretly, he set out to find his own path and refuses to rest before he's done so with the demons of the Union and his past._

 _Most of the next chapter is going to be pretty much all original, which will establish the emphasis of Cross Ange's involvement in the story._

 _Either way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter._


End file.
